080308_8march

tajikistanweb.com

080308 - On International Women’s Day widely celebrated in Tajikistan as a public holiday tightly entwined with the local popular culture, tajikistanweb.com decided to mark the occasion by googling the status of Tajik women through outsiders’ eyes. By and large, from 2001 through 2008 the picture is bleak and foreigners rarely were pleasantly impressed by women’s role and status in Tajik society. Below are some fragments of our findings chosen randomly from among hundreds of Google results that belong to various sources:

"Violence against women is frequent, and Tajikistan is a source and transit point for trafficking in women." (Wikipedia; Human Rights in Tajikistan)

"The status of rural women in Tajikistan, strongly rooted in tradition, remains bleaker than ever in this mountainous Central Asian country. Despite their key position in the family, a UN official argues that rural women suffer from extremely low status in society, a condition exacerbated by the pressures of acute poverty and traditional male perceptions of female roles. In the worst cases, women are treated as little more than "bonded labour", the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) coordinator, Nouchine Yavari-D’Hellencourt, told IRIN. "In Khatlon District [southern Tajikistan], you will often see 50 women working in the fields, with one male supervisor sitting under a tree sipping tea," she said." (IRIN, Tajikistan: Women’s status bleaker than ever; July 11, 2001).

"Unofficial figures put unemployment in Tajikistan at 60% in some regions. As a result, a million men out of a population of seven million people have left the country to find work in neighbouring Russia. Some send money home, others never return, marrying again and starting new families with Russian women. In rural areas, women and their elderly relatives can be seen farming the land. There are just no men of working age around." (Tough life for Tajik women; Rachel Ellison; BBC News; July 23, 2005)

"Women have played important roles in rebuilding Tajikistan after the country's civil war of the 1990's. But women in this central Asian country still have many obstacles to overcome to reach equality with men, according to some local activists and international observers. ( IPSNews; Roxana Saberi; Tajikistan: Gender Equality Clashes with Culture, Religion; Nov 15, 2006"

"Throughout the history patriarchy was seen as a natural order of the society, and it is still so in many parts of Tajikistan. Seems while accepting the system of male dominance women usually bargain with patriarchy. For instance, it is widely believed that women’s honor is highly dependent on their husbands, therefore, often times, women are subordinate to their husband. Moreover, most of the women need protection, material and emotional security. This may be the reason they do not resist to males being dominant, because in return to their subordination women receive security." ("Why women accept the system of male dominance?" Gulru, Neweurasia, March 20^th , 2007)

"I just wanted to announce that I’ll be publishing an article on Islam in Tajikistan in October’s issue of the Far Eastern Economic Review. While I was in Dushanbe this past summer I was able to interview Davlatmo Ismailova, the courageous young woman who is trying to sue Tajikistan’s Ministry of Education for barring her from attending classes wearing hijab. It was fascinating to talk to her, as well as to other young women in Dushanbe, on what the hijab means in Tajikistan. As I write in my article, there’s a lot of disagreement, and the discussion centers on Tajik identity. Some told me that the hijab represents "Arab" culture and should have no place in Tajik society. One woman told me that hijab-wearing women in Tajikistan were simply emulating the beautiful Moroccan woman in a soap opera that was popular a few years ago. Others claimed that women who wore hijab were "extremists" and should have no right to wear such a proselytizing symbol in a secular country such as Tajikistan. Yet more and more women are wearing hijab on the streets of Dushanbe, and I even saw two teenagers wearing niqab. According to Davlatmo, the hijab gives her freedom, and forcing her not to wear it is a violation of her human rights. I agree - though her failed lawsuit seems to indicate that Tajikistan’s government doesn’t." (Beyond-the-river weblog; To wear or not to wear – hijab in TJ; October 1^st , 2007)

"Economic hardships faced off by Tajikistan in the recent years have laid a fertile ground for most of the women entering the sex industry. Official estimates show that an average salary in Tajikistan reaches $36. One-night stand girls earn about $100 per night depending on the client' wellbeing and marketability of the girl. Thus, many poverty-stricken women enter the industry for pragmatic reasons and with a general sense of awareness of the choice they are making." (Is Prostitution a profession or way to survive? Olga Senchuk; Ferghana.ru; 30 January 2008)